After blowout loss in opener, Burger King hangs tough in Game 2

MANILA, Philippines – Burger King squandered a 16-point first half lead but hang tough in the end for a 116-113 win over San Miguel Beer in Game 2 of their Motolite-PBA Fiesta Cup semifinals series Friday night at the Astrodome. Six straight free throws by import Shawn Daniels and Gary David inside the final two-minute mark sealed the victory for the BK Whoppers and tied the best-of-seven series at 1-1. Game 3 is on Sunday night at the Araneta Coliseum. The Whoppers appeared headed to a big endgame fold up after Dondon Hontiveros hit a three-pointer to break a 110-deadlock and give the Beermen the lead. But Daniels and David hit two free throws each to give BK back the lead, 114-113, and stay on top for good. Daniels had an all-around game for the Whoppers with 29 points, 14 rebounds and six assists, while collecting five of the team’s 11 steals. Arwind Santos rebounded from a poor five-point output in the series opener by finishing with 22 points, JR Quinahan added 17 points coming off the bench and David poured all of his 12 points in the second half. The Beermen had a chance to win the game in the final 14.8 seconds when the Whoppers committed a 24-second shot clock violation while protecting a slim one-point lead. Hontiveros, SMB’s top local scorer with 15, however, missed on a three-pointer. Quinahan grabbed the rebound and passed it off to David, who was fouled with 2.8 seconds to go and sank the two more free throws for the final tally. Gabe Freeman had 34 points to show the way for San Miguel. But crucial block shots on him by Santos and Quinahan in San Miguel’s last two possessions helped the Whoppers preserve the lead – and the victory. With Daniels and role players Beau Belga and Mark Yee dominating inside, the Whoppers led by as many as 56-40 with four minutes to go in the second period. But a three-pointer by Hontiveros sparked a 16-8 San Miguel windup as the Beermen trailed by just eight at the half. Burger King big man Erick Rodriguez was earlier ejected with barely two minutes gone by in the game after committing a flagrant foul 2 on Freeman and the Whopper up 2-0. – GMANews.TV